Blog Archives | Page 16 of 17

July 21, 2012

A franchise owning company of 25 McDonald’s restaurants was fined $1 million in a lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission following an investigation of sexual harassment complaints at one of its Midwest locations.

The EEOC responded to reports of sexual comments, kissing, and other inappropriate touching forced upon female employees by their male coworkers. The EEOC says that the franchise owner knew about the sexual harassment and not only failed to act to stop it, but retaliated against female employees who complained and permitting male employees to continue the behavior.

July 14, 2012

Many Minnesota shoppers are likely familiar with fast fashion chain Wet Seal. The company owns both Wet Seal stores and Arden B stores, which are ubiquitous in malls around the state and generate about $620 million in sales nationwide each year. The retail chain is now being sued by a group of employees who say that the company systematically discriminates against African American employees.

The lawsuit was filed by a former manager from a Wet Seal location who says she was fired the day after the senior vice president emailed a district manager that said “African American dominate – huge issue.” The filing requests class action status for 250 current and former African American managers from Wet Seal locations around the country.

July 6, 2012

A trucking company has settled a racial discrimination lawsuit for $11 million, according to a statement from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The EEOC brought the lawsuit on behalf of a group of African American employees who said that they endured race-based harassment and discrimination for many years.

The settlement covers incidents that happened between 2002 and 2009. About 324 employees will be eligible to make claims to portions of the settlement. Among the many allegations made against the trucking company, the employees said that they found hangman’s noses and racist graffiti in a terminal where they often worked.

June 16, 2012

An experienced and well-regarded security official who has worked with the NBA and the Olympic Basketball team for many years has filed a lawsuit against the women’s team coach. She says that the coach made unwanted sexual advances towards her while they were traveling with a team in Russia in 2009. She refused his advances and said that immediately afterwards he displayed hostility towards her and spoke poorly of her to the team.

The woman has worked for the USA Basketball team for the past two Summer Olympic games in Athens and Beijing and had planned to work on the London games this year. In a conference call with league officials she learned that the coach had instructed the league that she should not work with his team.

June 5, 2012

The tech world is reeling after a prominent female partner at one of the industry’s major venture capital firms filed a sexual harassment lawsuit. The complaint details a pattern of mistreatment of female employees at the firm and reveals details of what many insiders already knew to be a male-centric industry.

The issues raised in the lawsuit filing were echoed in the comments of other women working in the venture capital world as well as entrepreneurs seeking investments. One woman told a reporter that she was explicitly denied a job at a prominent venture firm because of her gender and that in the 12 years since that happened, the company has still not hired a single female partner.

May 31, 2012

You are likely aware that hourly employees are entitled to overtime pay for weeks during which they work more than 40 hours. Unfortunately, some employers seek out ways to get more than 40 hours of work from their employees without paying them overtime. One method employers attempt is miscategorizing an employee as a salary employee even then they should be paid hourly under the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Another method used by some employers is requiring that hourly employees work more than forty hours in a week but then insist that they do not report any overtime hours, sometimes threatening or engaging in negative employment actions if the hours are accurately reported. This method is part of the allegations made by the former nanny of Sharon Stone.

May 22, 2012

Minneapolis based Target Corp. has entered into a settlement to resolve a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by 16-year employee. The woman who filed the lawsuit has a diagnosed disability that made it difficult for her to keep track of time. While she worked at Target, other employees would routinely remind her when she failed to notice that it was time for her break.

But at some point, the store stopped accommodating her disability, according to the lawsuit. Target alleges that the woman was terminated because she was late returning from her lunch break on three occasions over the course of 18 months. One of these occasions was apparently an instance in which she was two minutes late returning. Target noted that it does not make any exceptions, even if an employee is only two minutes late.

May 15, 2012

When we read a story in the Pioneer Press or Star Tribune about a sexual harassment case, it seems like the accused is almost always a male. There are a variety of cultural and business factors that lead to this disproportionate representation. But it is important to remember that just because a manager or supervisor is female, she is not allowed to sexually harass employees.

It can be difficult for anyone to report sexual harassment; they may fear retaliatory termination or simply not being believed. Both men and women who are the victims of harassment are wrongly placed in uniquely difficult circumstances. Everyone deserves a workplace free from sexual harassment. The allegations in one ongoing case demonstrate the susceptibility of both genders to be the victims of sexual harassment in the workplace.

May 2, 2012

Former Minnesota Viking quarterback Brett Favre has been called on to testify in a sexual harassment lawsuit surrounding text message he allegedly sent while playing for the Jets. The lawsuit alleges that while Favre was the starting quarterback for the Jets, he sent numerous inappropriate text messages to two massage therapists who were employees of the team.

According to the two female employees, they brought the inappropriate messages to the attention of the team management. The employees were likely hoping that the team would address this situation and take appropriate steps to deal with it and ensure that it did not occur again in the future. But the two female employees claim that rather than addressing the situation properly, the team simply terminated them.

April 25, 2012

Sexual discrimination related to the game of golf was recently in the national headlines as the PGA Master’s Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club highlighted the clubs refusal to admit female members. But alleged discrimination at a golf club can also be found much closer to home. Four former employees of the Minneapolis Golf Club filed a lawsuit earlier this month alleging sexual harassment.

The female employees claim that two male supervisors engaged in unwanted and inappropriate touching and unwanted sexual propositions. One of the woman claimed that a supervisor had cornered her and then grabbed and kissed her.